MegaMan: Eclipse
by FlexRhysode1
Summary: Bren Nova fifteen year old ExNetopian Official is moving to Electopia. While there, he makes friends with Lan and Co. Life is good, until a Dark Organization Eclipse shows up on the scene. Can Bren and his new friends take down this evil organization?
1. Chapter 1

MegaMan: Eclipse

Written By: FlexRhysode

NOTICE: I do not own the Navi's: MegaMan, Roll, ProtoMan, GutsMan, Glide, or their Netop Characters. However, I do own the following Navi's: SaberMan, Blade, Angel, Raiya and their Netop Characters. If you wish to use any of them in a Fan Fiction, please ask me and notify me to see if I will agree. I will be taking information from what I have learned from the following sources, take the information from there, and use it to shape my fiction.

MegaMan NT Warrior Anime Cartoon (A few episodes where I witnessed a cross fusion of Lan and MegaMan while battling ShadeMan in a Dimensional Area, Double Soul, etc.)

MegaMan NT Warrior Manga Comic Volumes 1-5

MegaMan Battle Network 3: Blue and White, 4: Blue Moon, and 5: Team ProtoMan.

Various MegaMan Fan Fictions from Fan for reading. I hope that you will R&R and have some constructive criticism for me. (This is my first time writing a fan without any help from friends. I am still somewhat new at Fan Fictions.)

Prologue

The drone of airplane engines filled the ears of Bren Nova. Bren Nova looked at the mirror in front of him. He saw a boy of fifteen at the height 5'10" with short-cropped blond hair with four spiked bangs that hung low on his forehead. Right now, they were wet due to the fact that he had just splashed his entire face with cold water, trying to get calmed down. His ice blue eyes met his reflections and he gave a hollow laugh. Bren Nova, Ex-Netopian Official who had taken down more bad guy organizations than ten hands could count and had not shown any fear, was afraid of flying.

He was about to wipe his hands and face on his blue tee shirt, but caught himself. He grabbed a couple of paper towels and dried them, and then smoothed out his tee shirt. It was his favorite, and he did not want anything to spoil it. It looked like it was two tee shirts, but was really one. It was blue except for the red shirt collar, and where the blue sleeves ended after his shoulders, a red sleeve went to the middle of his bicep. He also enjoyed it due to the fact that it had his Navi's symbol, a red lightning bolt, on his chest, occupying most of his shirt.

To go along with his shirt he had loose, athletic and breathable shorts. They were blue and came down to the end of his kneecaps, and had a vertical red stripe on the outside of the legs. He also had a blue and red tennis shoe with white soles, just to complete his look.

As he walked out of the cramped airplane bathroom, his hand grabbed his Red and blue PET out of its brown holster. He considered checking through his battle chip box (a red plastic box about the size of a PET easily clipped onto his belt.), but decided against it as he moved up the plane to the First Class section.

His Navi, SaberMan, looked out from the screen at him and said, "You know you really shouldn't worry. Air travel is the safest it has been in many years. There has not been an accident in over twenty years. Besides, we don't have much longer until we reach our destination."

He was on his way to Electopia, due to his father's job. His father was a single parent whose demanding job, as a military scientist in the field of Virus Research, often left Bren to take care of himself. Bren's father tried to be there, but his job often kept the father and son apart, even at the most critical times.

He made it to the proper seat and tapped his father, who was immersed in conversation with his NetNavi, on the shoulder. His father had his entire head spiked out in an afro, in an attempt to remain 'hip'. He had black thick-rimmed glasses, and always wore his scientist's trench coat. "Yes? What is it?" His father asked.

Bren answered his father's question with a request, "Would you mind if I went into the small café area up near the very front of the plane? Maybe some food would help calm me down."

His father pondered the possible outcomes, as was his habit, and decided Bren would not do too much harm. "Go ahead. However, as soon as you are done, come back. We need to talk about the changes we're going to experience in Electopia."

Bren nodded, and walked away, watching where he was going with his peripheral vision while he looked down once more at his PET. SaberMan was a custom made and fully optimized Net Navi who had been a present to Bren on his tenth birthday from his father.

SaberMan had started with a knight-like appearance, but after Bren had been accepted as an official at the age of twelve, his appearance was changed to be more intimidating. He now had a black mirrored visor attached to a round blue helmet that covered his ears. He had no other ear covering except his helmet. His helmet had a red 'X' in the middle of his helmet that was between two red strips that started at the edge of his visor and ended at the back of his helmet. His mouth was usually set in a thin line, showing he was a strong and determined individual.

He had a blue breastplate with red shoulder pads and a golden circle on his chest that showed his red lightning bolt symbol. His black skinsuit covered his arms down until the elbows, which were covered by red gloves. He also wore a gold belt and blue (for lack of better words) groin-protector. His skinsuit covered him from his groin protector to his knees and from his knees down, he wore red boots. One thing that Bren really enjoyed about SaberMan's knew look was a Red flowing cape that SaberMan wore, which had made SaberMan a chick magnet.

Bren thought on that note, _Chicks dig guys in capes and with black mirror visors. I wonder why?_

He shook off the thought and smiled as he said, "SaberMan…compose an email for me…okay?"

His Navi, though he did not need to, dutifully answered, "Yes sir. To whom shall I address it?"

As Bren steered his way through the aisles and past people, he answered, "Why not to…umm…" He feigned a few moments of thinking and finished with, "Kimberly."

SaberMan, who was not surprised, didn't even answer to indicate he was ready. "Just tell her of our progress so far. And tell her that I…miss her." Bren said, his face flushing a dark red.

SaberMan said, "Very well. I'll get on it."

Bren's mind drifted to his girlfriend, Kimberly Liason, who he had left in Netopia. She was a blond haired, blue-eyed beauty. She and Bren had been friends since kindergarten and just recently, their relationship had blossomed. He was brought out of the memory as he reached an open area that was 27 feet in length and 12 in width. There were tables, TV's, chairs, and on the far wall straight ahead was the kitchen.

Bren ordered a sandwich, a soda, and within minutes, was chomping happily away at his food. He was almost finished when he heard a commotion by one of the 'Free Space' TV's off to the right side of the room. He noticed a group of kids, who he guessed were a bunch of filthy rich snobs, who were laughing at a girl's futile attempts to log out her Navi. Their Navi's were pushing, kicking, and being downright disgusting to the Female Navi.

Bren's anger rose like a fire fed with gasoline, and he slammed down his sandwich. He whipped out his PET and jacked SaberMan into the Free Space TV with the laser. He then walked up to the group of boys, shouldered his way through and said, "All right then, tough guys. Let's see how you do against someone who can actually defend themselves!"

The boys, in shock, simply looked onto the screen and at their PET's as the battle unfolded.

SaberMan, within the milliseconds of being jacked in, took in the situation and understood what to do. A screen popped up next to him, showing a furious Bren Nova. "Teach them a lesson, SaberMan!"

SaberMan nodded and ran at the group of male Navi's. Each one was a custom Navi, but SaberMan had a feeling it was more for show than use. SaberMan didn't go his full speed, due to the fact that his speed was Mach 6, and in case of an unsuspected surprise, his speed would be the key.

He felt a surge of power as Bren downloaded a simple CyberSword, and his right arm was encased in a blue blade. SaberMan, trying not to delete the Navi's, performed several aerial kicks and maneuvers that forced three out of five to log out.

The other two were faster and managed to duck, pull out weapons and attack within a few seconds. They each had a HighCannon, and they tried their hardest to hit SaberMan. SaberMan, however, dodged the blasts with ease. He quickly used his CyberSword to slice off the Navi's legs and arms so that they wouldn't be a threat, and was surprised to see a Rock Cube land right between the two incapacitated Navis.

He then heard a feminine voice cry out, "Bolt, Download!"

SaberMan had the sense to jump backwards, just barely out of range, as a bolt of lightning hit the cube and sent an electric shock through the other Navis. The two Navis logged out in a flash of light, and when SaberMan opened his eyes, he found himself suddenly face to face with a beautiful female Navi.

Her appearance was a little complicated, but it made her that much more beautiful. She had a helmet like Roll's, however, her helmet was black and had lightning going all the way around it. She had gold interconnected arrowheads up the middle of her helmet and a yellow visor that was see-through and covered her eyes. She had golden hair that came out of the back of her helmet, and golden ear covers that held her symbol on the inside. She had a black skinsuit that covered all of her except for her yellow-gloved arms (from her elbows) and yellow boots (that extended from her knees to her feet). However, the skinsuit had an intricate patter of what looked like lightning that spiraled up around her legs and met between her hips. The pattern then looked like interconnected arrowheads that extended from the center of her chest, where her Navi symbol was, and down to where the pattern met. Then the same kind of lightning pattern wrapped around her arms twice and came up from the back and over the shoulders where it met at the Navi Symbol, forming a 'V'. Her Navi symbol was a small green triangle above what looked like an over-extended yellow 'V'. SaberMan could not help but admire her, due to her perfect curves.

Before he could speak, the female spoke. "My name is Raiya, and thank you."

SaberMan cleared his throat and said, 'Um…you're welcome. My name is SaberMan. It was a pleasure to meet you…Raiya."

He was about to obey Bren's order and Log out of the Free Space, when Raiya planted kiss on SaberMan's lips and as he jacked out she said, "That's my thanks!"

Bren had not just witnessed what had just occurred between the two Navi's, due to the fact that the 'Preps' were glaring at him and had him and the girl circled. He quickly thrust his PET into its holster, and tried to look as though he was not intimidated. It was not very hard to do, since he was used to being threatened by a much larger number of people than five.

The Preps menacingly inched forward, and Bren and the girl were pressed back to back. One boy grabbed Bren's shirt collar and jerked an unconcerned Bren Nova up to his face. He was about to snarl a threat when a cold, deadly voice spoke from outside the ring of Preps.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You might not enjoy the consequences." The thinly veiled threat drew the attention of all of the Preps, who turned to see who would be stupid enough to try to stop them.

The were obviously surprised and unnerved, though Bren couldn't see who it was due to the fact that the Preps backs were blocking his view. One boy was about to make a comment, "And what do you plan to do-UH!" But was quickly silenced by an elbow to the gut from one of his fellows.

The boys dispersed without a sound, each heading for the seating section in the First Class area. Bren smiled and raised an eyebrow as he watched the boy's retreat. He laughed as he turned his attention to the stranger, and started to thank them. However, the words died in his throat as he saw who it was.

Bren Nova practically yelled out in surprise, "Shaun? Shaun Rika? What in the world are you doing here?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Reunion and Arrival

Standing in front of Bren was a boy of 15 who was 5'10" and had grey hair brushed off to the side so that it covered the right side of his face, green eyes, pale skin, and a perfectly calm attitude. Shaun wore his traditional clothing that consisted of dark blue jeans, white tennis shoes that had a black stripe down the front, and a light grey hoody that had dark grey lined pockets and collar and hood strings.

His grey hood was thrown back, and his hands were stuffed in his hoody pocket. His Navi's Symbol, like Bren's, took of most of the front of the shirt. It was a dark blue symbol that resembled an hourglass, but it had the arms of a cross protruding from the middle of the hourglass.

Shaun Rika had also been a Netopian official, who had teamed up with Bren over ten times. They were pretty close friends, except the fact that Shaun had left the Officials because he had taken the fall for Bren, who had been framed in a scandal. Shaun and Bren also had shared a link through their Navi's names that held a common meaning. Shaun's Navi was Blade, and Bren's Navi was SaberMan.

Shaun smiled slightly and extended his hand for a greeting. "Well, well, well. What a surprise. How are you doing Bren?"

Bren ignored the offered hand and wrapped Shaun up in a bear hug, which caused minor discomfort to Shaun. Bren laughed happily as he replied, "I'm doing just great, Shaun. Just great! How about you?"

Shaun was about to reply as he was being released, when they both heard giggling. They both turned towards the source, and remembered the girl who had been standing there the whole time. Shaun cleared his throat sheepishly and said, "Ahem…Bren Nova, I would like for you to meet my sister, Sarah. Sarah, this is Bren Nova. We used to work together for the officials."

Bren was dumbfounded. "You have a sister? You never told me that!"

Shaun shrugged as Sarah extended her hand. "You never asked."

Bren shook her hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Sarah."

She smiled shyly and said, "It's nice to meet you too."

She blushed as she noticed that he was examining her. His eyes roamed over her committing her looks to memory, as was his habit from being an Official. She had golden blonde hair that came down to her mid-back, green eyes like her brother, soft white skin, and perfect curves. She wore a black tee shirt with a 'V' low cut front. She wore a black patch almost on her left shoulder that had her Navi symbol on it. She wore a brown leather belt that had a PET holster, which held her black and gold PET, and had her golden battle chip box hooked onto it. She wore a black skirt that stopped at mid-thigh, and she wore black socks that came up to her kneecaps. In addition, to complete her looks she wore nice brown shoes.

Bren had to stop himself from staring at Sarah by turning to Shaun. "I, uh, was just eating before I noticed what was going on. Would you guys like to join me?"

Shaun nodded, and Bren walked over to his unfinished meal. "It gets a little boring when you don't have anyone to talk to." Bren said as Shaun and Sarah ordered their food and then sat next to him.

Shaun was about to agree when an electronically synthesized voice came over Bren's PET speakers. "What…do I not make good conversation?" SaberMan asked loudly.

Bren removed his PET from his holster and as he looked at his Navi, quickly said, "No. No. I didn't mean that you weren't good conversation. I just meant that it's not as satisfying as when I am talking to an old friend like Shaun."

As Bren set his PET on the table, SaberMan muttered, "Sure, sure, sure. The Navi who has saved the world and _your_ little rear countless times just isn't as good as two humans are. Whatever."

Sarah giggled, and Shaun stifled a chuckle. Bren coughed, covering his embarrassment, and said, "So, what are you guys doing on a plane to Electopia?"

Shaun and Sarah bit into their foods, and Bren waited until they finished their mouthful of food. Shaun finished first and said, "Well, my mother decided we needed a change of scenery since…" Shaun trailed off, and Bren had no doubt, as to what Shaun was talking about.

Bren cleared his throat and said, "They cleared it up, Shaun. You could have come back and actually, everyone was hoping you would. They found out that it was Burke who actually dealt the Dark Chips." Bren's voice turned bitter as he said the name 'Burke'. Burke had been an Official who secretly sold Dark Chips, and when the Officials were getting too close, he had planted evidence in Bren's computer and his locker to make it seem as if it had been Bren.

Shaun had found the planted evidence before anyone, and knowing the Bren would never do such a thing, and knowing the Officials were raiding lockers that day, he took a chance and put it in his own locker. He knew that if he took the fall, Bren would take the fight and take down the real source. Bren had taken down Burke, and the Netopian Officials had sent Shaun multiple offers to come back after they had suspended his License. However, Shaun had never come back and decided it was for the best to stay out of the Officials from now on.

Shaun told this to Bren, and there was silence as the three ate their food. Bren changed the conversation topic. "I'm on the plane on-" He was about to tell them why when Sarah excitedly broke in with "Are you on a secret missions for the Officials? Are you on the way to try to take down an ultra bad-guy organization?"

Bren laughed and said, "No. My dad is being transferred to Electopia and I am going with him. I turned in my Officials License and I am going to be attending the DenTech Academy High School. The same school that the famous Lan Hikari attends."

Shaun, usually the most calm and composed person Bren had ever met, choked on the sandwich he was eating. Sarah had to smack him in the back a couple of times before he was alright. Shaun coughed out, "WHAT?"

Bren, puzzled, answered. "My father is being transferred and I'm going with him. I am going to be attending DenTech Academy High School. I'm no longer a Netopian Official."

Sarah giggled, and Shaun's jaw dropped. "Y-you're attending DenTech High?"

Bren, still not getting it, answered uncertainly, "Uh…yeah?"

Sarah giggled hysterically, and finally Bren asked, "What? What's wrong with me attending DenTech High?"

Shaun was a little dazed as he said, "Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all."

Sarah was about to say something when Shaun clapped his hand over her mouth, stopping her attempt. Shaun glared at her and said, "NOTHING IS WRONG."

SaberMan realized what was going on and smiled. He winked at Shaun and Sarah and mouthed, "I won't tell."

Shaun nodded his thanks and said, "Well, Bren, it's been great to talk with you. I'm sorry I have to cut it short, but I think that we are almost to the Electopian Airport."

As if on cue, the Pilot's voice came over the PA system. "Attention all Passengers and Crew Members, please make your way back to your seats and fasten your seatbelts. We are currently within Electopian Airspace and will be landing shortly."

Bren, disappointed that talking with his friend had been cut short, said to Shaun. "Hey…good luck in Electopia. Drop an E-mail by me every occasionally."

Shaun nodded and walked away with Sarah. He said over his shoulder, "Don't worry, I will."

As Shaun was about to go into the seating section, Bren half-yelled, "Hey! I'm going to be living in ACDC Town if you want to ever stop by!"

At that, Shaun's jaw dropped again and Sarah broke out in hysteric giggling. Bren could have sworn he heard her gasp out, "Looks…like...we'll…see you…later!"

Bren scratched his head in confusion as Sarah and Shaun disappeared. He picked up his PET and addressed SaberMan. "What…what was that about?"

SaberMan, without even smiling, said, "I have a feeling that we'll find out soon."

Bren looked out a window as he made his way to his seat. The beautiful country of Electopia was drifting past him, and as he sat next to his father, he thought, _I guess…I guess I am home. My new home. I wonder what new adventures I will have here?_

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Well, sorry that the chapter isn't that good, and sorry I didn't update it sooner. I look forward to any reviews and advice. Thanks again for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2: A Painful Message

It had been four days since Bren Nova had moved in to his new house in ACDC town. His house was a green house across the street from ACDC Park, and it had a splendid view. He did not live very far away from Lan Hikari's house, and that had excited him considerably. Mrs. Hikari had already stopped by the house to welcome them to the neighborhood, along with several other residents.

Today was the first day of being a freshman in high school, and he had woken up early to make sure that he had everything ready. His father had even taken the time to wish him good luck before leaving for work. Overall, Bren felt confident that High school would be a piece of cake.

It was currently 8:00, which meant he had fifteen minutes to dawdle before school started. He walked outside of his house and locked the door behind him, and shivered as the moist morning air chilled him. He slung his backpack over his right shoulder, and started walking towards the school.

The grass that was on either side of the sidewalk was still wet with dew, and the sun was peeking above some of the houses. Bren breathed in the air, and slowly walked towards DenTech High. His mind was drifting, thinking of Kimberly and what she was doing right now. He did not notice that two teenagers were following him from a distance, walking casually and trying not to arouse suspicion.

The two teenagers drew closer to the oblivious Bren Nova, and before they reached DenTech High, were on either side of him. Bren Nova withdrew from his wanderings and glanced at the teenagers. They did not seem threatening, and were rather non-descript. They nodded in greeting, and Bren smiled back. Something seemed, off, and Bren carefully examined the teenagers out of the corner of his eyes.

Nothing seemed out of place, and Bren was rather confused. Something seemed off, and Bren was debating whether his 'danger sense' was off. However, something caught his eye as one of the boys scratched his head. On the inside of his wrist was a tattoo of a handsaw with a red 'R' behind it. Bren's memory was suddenly jogged as he realized that that the members of a gang he had arrested as an Official had that tattoo.

He thought, _they could not hurt SaberMan on the Net, so they want to make me pay in the real world! I stopped their crimes and put them behind bars for a few months, and now they are going to want to make me pay!_

Right as that thought ran through his head, the teenager on his right grabbed him and pinned his arms behind his back. The boy on his left held one hand over Bren's mouth, and pushed them out of sight behind a building called "Higsby's". The boy who was holding Bren's arms so that he could not break free growled, "This is for those 4 months in prison! We had a good thing goin' until you ruined it!"

The boy who wasn't holding Bren's arms, but was keeping Bren from yelling for help, punched Bren in the gut. He punched Bren in the gut five times, and the only thing keeping Bren from crying out in agony was the hand over his mouth. Tears streamed from his eyes as the boys dealt out punishment, and Bren felt one rib crack as he was hit again.

He tried to struggle and break free, but they had him in too tight of a hold. SaberMan was yelling, "BREN! BREN! WHAT'S GOING ON?"

The boy holding Bren growled out, "Shut that Navi up!"

The boy stopped punching Bren and yanked out Bren's PET. The boy simply turned off the PET and tossed it onto the grass, ignoring it. Bren was grateful for that, so he wouldn't be losing SaberMan. Then, the beatings continued. The boys switched spots every few punches, and for five minutes, Bren was beaten and bloodied.

After one particular brutal hit that smashed into Bren's jaw, he heard a scream. He looked off to the side and saw a girl standing there, hand over her mouth. He was surprised that he was able to see her so well due to the beatings. She had short red hair that came down to her shoulders, and in her hair she had a decorative hair clip with what he assumed was her Navi's symbol. She had what looked like a green long sleeved shirt with a blue sleeveless vest over it, a short pink skirt, black leggings that came up above her kneecaps, and brown shoes.

She screamed, "Lan! Chaud! Help!"

Bren recognized both of the names and apparently so did the two boys. They let go of Bren, letting him collapse to the ground. They then kicked him one last time and ran as Chaud Blaze and Lan Hikari came running around the corner. The two boys were faster than Chaud and Lan, and were gone in a few moments.

Bren coughed up blood, but dragged himself through the wet grass towards his PET. The girl, ran up to him as he reached his PET and turned it on. She crouched next to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Bren shook his head 'no', and smiled as SaberMan flashed onto the PET screen. SaberMan yelled, "BREN!"

Bren coughed up blood and said, "Glad you're okay…"

The girl broke in, "Which is more than we can say for you." She looked up and yelled, "Lan! Chaud! This boy is coughing up blood! He looks pretty bad!"

Chaud and Lan both ran over and tried to help Bren. Lan was about to lift him up when Chaud yelled, "Don't!"

Lan stopped as Chaud explained, "He could have some broken ribs. You don't want to make things worse."

Chaud whipped out his PET and addressed his Navi ProtoMan. "ProtoMan, I want you to call for an ambulance and-"

SaberMan broke in saying, "I already did that. They will be here in a few minutes."

Bren felt unconsciousness' black embrace coming for him and he addressed Chaud and Lan. "I wanted to meet you guys…but not like this." He tried to laugh, but he coughed up more blood.

"My name is Bren Nova. It's really nice to meet both of you." He raised his hand weakly in greeting, and shook both of their hands.

The edge of his vision was all black, and he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. He brought SaberMan up to his face and said, "SaberMan…you don't need to call dad. I don't want to interrupt him."

SaberMan shook his head and said, "Your father has already been notified. He'll meet us at the hospital."

Bren nodded and said, "I can't stay awake. I know I should stay awake…but I can't."

Chaud and Lan shook him, saying, "Come on…just a little longer. Stay awake. Come on!" However, Bren was not awake anymore. His mind was now in the gentle, black embrace of unconsciousness.

Elsewhere, the two teenagers who had escaped jogged into an abandoned warehouse. It was pitch black except for one spotlight, which shone onto a man wearing a white robe with a black circle almost completely covered by a silver one. "Is it done?" The man asked, his voice gravelly and coarse.

The two boys nodded and said, "It is."

They pulled off the fake tattoo, which was just a skin decal, and dropped it onto the floor. The boy who had done most of the punching asked the robed figure, "I apologize for asking, but how is this supposed to help him? Isn't he our only hope? Why should we injure him and risk him never finding Eclipse before it's too late?"

The man chuckled and said, "The reason you were given the task of hurting him, is to give him and his friends a reason to go after Eclipse. We sent him a data disk in the mail that he will receive when he gets out of the Hospital. In that Data Disk, we have a message saying that if he wants to find out who did that to him, then he must come to _us_. So, while it hurts him, it sends him on a determined quest for payback, therefore making my goal easier to attain."

The two boys nodded in understanding and bowed. "Thank you for enlightening us. It is plain to see why you are the Lord of Crescent Moon."

The man nodded and said, "It is indeed…." He was silent while the boys left, and whispered to himself, "_It is indeed._"

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Okay. Here is the chapter. Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is enjoying it. By the way, I did not have enough room to post this in the story summary, but there is romance between Lan and Maylu as well as other characters.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3: First Day, First Challenge!

Bren Nova woke to the sound of snoring and of a rhythmic beeping. He groggily cracked open his eyes, and quickly shut them again as they were overwhelmed with the amount of white that was in the room. He slowly opened his eyes again, and soon, his eyes became accustomed to the brightness. He realized within a few seconds that he was in a hospital, and his father was holding his hand while sleeping next to his bed.

He smiled and slowly took inventory of his body, to see what was in working order and what wasn't. He started with his toes, which worked fine, and worked his way up until he had taken full stock of his facilities. Everything except for his chest, abdomen and face was fine and in working order. He sighed with happiness, because he didn't have any broken legs or arms and he wouldn't be stuck in a wheelchair or a have a cast for months.

However, his sigh was changed from happiness to pain as soon as the first waves of pain hit him. He had breathed in a bit too deeply and had caused his skin to stretch the bruises that he had received. He coughed in pain and his father jerked up, awake in an instant. He fixed his crooked glasses, and blinked groggily as he muttered, "Bren? Are you awake?"

Bren winced and gently sat upright in the bed. "Yeah dad, I'm up. What time is it?"

Bren's father rubbed his eyes and asked hurriedly, "Are you okay? Are you in any pain? Do you need me to call the nurse? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?"

Bren tried not to laugh and said, "Dad…I've been in worse shape before, there's no need to worry. But yeah, I'm kind of in pain, but it's nothing I can't handle. I am hungry, but my most pressing question is: what time is it?"

Bren's father turned to the two PET's resting next to Bren's bed and at the same time, both Navi's answered, "It's currently 10:48 am."

SaberMan said from his PET, "Bren! I'm glad you're okay."

Bren smiled and said, "It'll take a whole lot more than that to keep me down."

Bren asked his father, "So if I was only out for two hours, why were you sleeping?"

His father sheepishly said, "Well, I didn't sleep that well last night. I planned on staying up until you woke up, but then the lack of sleep kicked in."

Bren said, "Oh. Okay. Well, it's good I've only been out for two hours after that beating."

SaberMan smiled along with Bren's father, and Bren's father said, "The doctors said you were very lucky. You didn't have any super-threatening wounds that couldn't be treated easily. You have three cracked ribs, and of course, many bruises. No broken bones at all. You were very lucky, Bren. Do you know who did this to you?"

Bren nodded and, annoyed at the IV's in his arms, plucked out the IV's. His father protested, but Bren said, "Dad. I'm fine. I'm a little sore, but I'm fine. However, there are two Ripsaw Gang members who need to be found and taken back to jail."

His father shuddered at the mention of that brutal gang, and said, "So they did this to you?"

Bren nodded, and said, "Dad, I'm feeling fine. Can I go back to school now?"

His father said in a rough voice, "No! You can't go! You were just beaten up, you have three cracked ribs, and you're worrying about school?"

Bren felt his anger well up and he yelled out, "….

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This portion of the story has been edited because the argument itself was very long and had some very harsh words used. I will skip straight to the ending of this argument. :D**

Bren's father sat back in his chair, defeated. Bren was steadfast and unmovable in the fact that no matter what policies or rules were in place, he was leaving to go to school. He was NOT going to miss his first day of being a freshman.

So, over the next twenty minutes, there were at least five arguments (like the one I edited above.) until the doctors and hotel staff gave in and let Bren leave. They gave him his painkillers and gladly let him go. It took another twenty minutes for Bren to take the Metroline to ACDC Town and to get to DenTech High. By the time Bren received his schedule, organized his books in his locker, and gathered necessary supplies, it was lunchtime.

Bren slowly made his way into the cafeteria and was happy to see that the line had just started, so he was not very far back in the line. He noticed an empty spot behind Lan, Chaud, Dex, Yai, and Maylu in line and raced to take it. He ended up taking it a split second before another boy could, and he received death glares for it.

But, he happily stood unnoticed behind the group of kids, until line jostling occurred. He was painfully slammed into from behind, then he ended up bumping into Dex, and Dex ended up squishing Yai. Dex whirled around and yelled at Bren, saying, "What the heck do you think you're…" He trailed off as he noticed the bruises.

Lan and Chaud turned around to face Bren as Maylu helped scrape Yai off the floor. Chaud and Lan stared disbelievingly at the boy who they had sent to the hospital three hours before, and Maylu joined in as soon as she had finished helping Yai. Bren smiled and said, "Hey, guys. I am sorry about that. Someone bumped into me."

Chaud spoke first saying, "Why are you here? You should be at the hospital, recovering."

Maylu heartily agreed and Lan said, "You need the rest after that beating you took!"

Bren simply shrugged as they continued moving in the line, getting closer to the food. "I'm a lot tougher than I look. I've been in worse scrapes than that. Besides, I wanted to be here for my first day as a freshman."

Chaud scoffed, saying, "No…that's not the real reason. I've met kids like you. You simply want to impress us because you think that just because we saw you being beaten up, we think you're weak. You're trying to get that notion out of our heads."

Surprised, Bren realized that Chaud was right. But, flustered at Chaud hitting so close to home, Bren growled out, "Don't pretend you know me and can understand me. If I wanted you to see how strong I really am, I would have just Net Battled you!"

Maylu said softly, gingerly laying a hand on Bren's shoulder, "Don't be angry. I believe you're strong, but you should still be recovering after what you've been through."

Bren lowered his head, and their conversation was broken up by them receiving their lunches. Bren followed them and set his tray next to them. Lan had a strange look on his face, and Bren recognized it. Bren had made that face when Kimberly had hugged one of her boyfriends…Bren had been jealous. Bren wondered what Lan was jealous about as Lan said loud enough for half of the lunch room to hear, "Bren…you think you're strong? Why don't you try out MegaMan and me? Prove how strong you really are."

Dex, Chaud, Maylu, and Yai all exclaimed, "What?"

Bren smiled and was about to accept when Chaud grabbed Lan's shoulder and spun him around so that they were face to face and said, "Lan! What are you doing?"

Lan growled, "Get out of my face, Blaze. I'm giving this guy a chance to prove to us just how strong he is."

The cafeteria was silent, and Bren said, "When and where?"

Lan smiled and pointed off to his left at a Net Battling machine that was hooked up to a big screen for the entire cafeteria to see. He replied to Bren's question, saying, "Here…now."

Maylu grabbed onto Lan's arm and said, "Lan! He's injured! This isn't even a fair fight, so how can you say that you're giving him a chance?"

Bren cut in before Lan could reply and change his mind, saying in a cold voice, "Don't worry. I promise I'll go easy on him, Maylu."

Lan laughed and said, "So, I take it that's a 'yes'?"

Bren simply walked over to the machine, and turned it on. "Yes." He said.

Lan jogged over to the machine, and as the system booted up, the entire cafeteria crowded around the two boys. They gave them enough room to move freely, and allowed Chaud, Dex, Yai, and Maylu to stand near the two boys. Bren heard MegaMan yelling at Lan saying, "Lan! What's gotten into you? I can't fight an injured opponent. It's wrong!"

At MegaMan's question of 'what's gotten into you?' Lan turned his head and locked eyes with Maylu, and at last, Bren understood. Lan was in love with Maylu and he was jealous of her showing affection to Bren. He shook his head and thought, _We're not so different, Lan Hikari. But, I can't afford to lose this battle. If I lose, you look bad and your reputation is damaged. If I win, your reputation is damaged and you will hate me. What do I do?_

Lan jacked MegaMan into the Net Battling system and yelled impatiently at Bren. "Well? Are we going to battle or are we going to sit around all day?"

Bren quickly turned his attention to his PET screen, shared his dilemma with SaberMan, and said, "What do I do?"

SaberMan pondered the answer for a split second and said, "We fight. However, we hold back and tie with MegaMan."

Bren was about to argue when he realized that it was the only choice. If he tied, not only would he be recognized as strong, but he would also gain Lan and Chaud's respect. He smiled and looked at Lan. The crowd was silent as he spoke softly enough for everyone to hear him. "Lan Hikari…you've got yourself a Net Battle!"

He palmed his PET, and pressed the Laser activation Trigger while aiming at the Net Battle System's receptor. He yelled, "Jack in, SaberMan! Power up!" The crowd roared in excitement as the screen showed the two Net Navis who were ready to battle. Bren felt his adrenaline rush as he realized that His reputation, as well as Lan's reputation, was on his shoulders. As the crowd counted down the seconds until the Net Battle started, Bren fervently prayed that for Lan's sake, as well as his, he would win.

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Okay guys. That's the end of this chapter. The next chapter, "Rep Battle" will be the fight and the consequences. Will Bren win and save Lan's reputation as well as establish his own, or will he lose to the world's greatest Net Battler and gain a possible enemy? Tune in next time for the answer! Dum-dum-duuuuuuuuum!

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